Hunger strikes

Allegations of human rights abuses and overcrowding have plagued Australia's detention centre in Nauru for years.

The mental toll on young people is drawing increasing focus and includes reports of suicide attempts.

The issue attracted fresh concern last week with news of the 12-year-old on hunger strike - a boy from Iran.

Ian Rintoul, spokesperson for the Refugee Action Coalition, said the child has now been on a hunger strike for around 19 days. Efforts were being made to transfer him to Australia for urgent medical care.

Access to Nauru is difficult - with foreign journalists hampered by the $8,000 Australian dollar ($5,850; £4,591) non-refundable charge per visa application.

Advocacy groups say families live squalid conditions, in mouldy tents with dirty bathroom facilities. Children have few places to play on the island.

The tiny nation in the Pacific is around 53km from the equator, and covered in phosphate rocks.

The facility currently holds more than 240 men, women and children, according to AFP news agency, and is an economic lifeline for the isolated nation.